He The Government has given its approval to BlackRock's entry into the capital of Naturgyby approving the purchase of the infrastructure company Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which owns 20% of the energy company, according to information released by 'CincoDías'. Thus, the Council of Ministers approves an operation proposed by the fund in January of this year, for which it will have to make a payment of approximately $12.5 billion (about €11.4 billion) in cash and shares.
«The Council of Ministers has authorized BlackRock's request to acquire the fund manager GIP. This acquisition maintains the guarantees on companies that are strategic, such as Naturgy. We have always maintained that our regulation maintains a balance that allows this type of operation to be carried out, thereby attracting investments and safeguarding the strategic interests of our country,» they point out from the Ministry of Economy. Finally, Naturgy's capital will register significant movements this year, after the beginning of June the joint takeover bid planned by CriteriaCaixa and the Emirati group Taqa failed, which ultimately failed to reach an agreement before launching a definitive offer. In addition, GIP acquisition makes BlackRock the world's second-largest infrastructure managerand the fund aims to gain a «leadership» position in a «fast-growing» market. «Our acquisition of GIP will boost our leadership in the fast-growing infrastructure market. The combination of BlackRock and GIP will make us the second largest private markets infrastructure manager with over $150 billion dollars in total assets under management,» the bank's president and chief executive, Laurence D. Fink, said in January.